Mason took it all in while munching on popcorn.
His favorite part? Riding the
Roper's preferred method of transportation:
Coffee, Cats, and Deadlines: A Day in My Life
1 month ago
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Take Me Out...
On Saturday afternoon we took the boys to the Carolina baseball game. It was a beautiful day and we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Mason took it all in while munching on popcorn.
His favorite part? Riding theshuttle "school" bus to and from the game while singing The Wheels on the Bus.
Roper's preferred method of transportation:
Mason took it all in while munching on popcorn.
His favorite part? Riding the
Roper's preferred method of transportation:
Easter Eggs
My cousin Kate, or Kate-Kate as Mason calls her, came down to visit last Friday because she was out of school. Sydney hung out with us also. We had fun dyeing Easter eggs together, although I didn't get many pictures because my camera battery needed charging.
Mason loved dyeing eggs...he was definitely a fan of the yellow dye...I think he likes saying the word "yellow." It does sound really cute. And since it was impossible to keep his fingers out of the dyes, at least the yellow didn't stain his fingertips as badly as the other colors!
Mason loved dyeing eggs...he was definitely a fan of the yellow dye...I think he likes saying the word "yellow." It does sound really cute. And since it was impossible to keep his fingers out of the dyes, at least the yellow didn't stain his fingertips as badly as the other colors!
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Zoo
Mason & Roper's grandparents (Graem's parents) came up for a visit on Saturday and we took advantage of the beautiful weather (and our zoo membership, which we don't use often enough) to go see the animals. Since we had reinforcements to help watch the children, I was able to get some great pictures.
The Lorikeet Exhibit is one of our favorites. Mason wanted so badly to hold one of the birds, but they didn't quite trust him.
I love the elephants.
This looks relaxing...
Mason fed the giraffes.
More feeding of animals...
Roper chilled in his stroller the entire time, and napped on & off.
Other pictures...
The Lorikeet Exhibit is one of our favorites. Mason wanted so badly to hold one of the birds, but they didn't quite trust him.
I love the elephants.
This looks relaxing...
Mason fed the giraffes.
More feeding of animals...
Roper chilled in his stroller the entire time, and napped on & off.
Other pictures...
Friday, March 26, 2010
My 20s
I have no idea how old I was in this picture, but the expression on my face really sums up how I feel about turning 30.
Some of you know that I love even numbers. My intellectual strengths are in language arts, not math. Yes, its true that I never mastered my multiplication tables and managed to make it through Carolina with only one math class (thank you, Journalism school!). Kind of scary that my job involves lots of numbers, huh? I consider it a huge blessing that I was born in 1980. With a quick and easy subtraction that even I can do in my head, I always can figure out how old I am!
The other thing I like about my birth year is that my "big" birthdays coincide with new decades.
Several older and wiser friends and relatives have told me that my 30s will be the best years of my life. As exciting as this thought seems, I can't help but question the validity of that statement. I spent some time this week reflecting over the past decade, aka my 20s, and they were pretty darn good.
Don't get me wrong, there were some hard times also...but isn't it funny how the good times really stand out? I thought I'd share some of my highlights over the past decade...
2000/age 20:
I was a junior at USC. Good times!
2001/age 21:
This is the year I met the love of my life. It's hard to believe that Graem & I started dating nine years ago! That means we've been together for almost a third of my life. Wow! This picture was taken on one of our first dates. In my mind's eye we still look like this.
The summer of 2001 I did a study abroad program. The course was "Reporting in the British Isles" and we traveled all over England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This course was through Michigan State (random!) and I didn't know a single other student until I landed at Heathrow Airport in London and met everyone! I made some great friends over that summer and at the end of the course, Jen and I traveled on to Paris and Italy.
Trafalgar Square, London:
2002/age 22:
Graduated from USC.
Graem took me on a trip to Boston to celebrate graduation.
That December my mother and I took a trip to Spain.
2003/age 23:
Looking back, I don't know how I managed to pull this off, considering the salary I made, but somehow I bought my first house -- all by myself! Well, I did have a roommate, but that was because my friend needed a place to live, and it helped me be able to afford togo down to 5 Points every so often buy groceries. We still have this little patio home -- and I mean little -- less than 1,000 square feet -- and we have never had any trouble finding renters for it.
2004/age 24:
Graem and I got engaged and I spent the next yearobsessing over every detail of planning our wedding day...
2005/age 25:
Alice and Aunt Ruth (and Aunt Beth, behind the scenes) took me on a fabulous trip to NYC...
Wedding bells!
...and we bought the house we live in now.
Another trip to NYC that fall for me and Graem.
2006/age 26:
Graem and I took one of my favorite trips ever. For our first anniversary, we flew out to California and spent a few days in Napa Valley, a few days in Sonoma Valley and a few days in San Francisco. I planned most of the trip, but Graem was in charge of the transportation, including car rental -- and he surprised me with a Mustang convertible! It was so much fun! The only problem was that the car didn't have very much cargo space. We bought so many cases of wine that it all wouldn't fit in the car and we ended up having to ship some of it home! Mental note for next time: rent a U-Haul!
2007/age 27:
Ski trip to Jackson Hole...except that we didn't do very much skiing. We found out right before our trip that I was expecting and under doctor's orders, no skiing allowed. We ended up going on several snowmobiling excursions, which were amazing, and we skiied one day, very carefully, with Graem skiing behind me to make sure no one plowed into me!
That fall, my sweet little Mason was born.
2008/age 28:
Trip to Montana (chronicled here).
2009/age 29:
Sweet baby boy #2, Roper, was born.
And I finished up a 5-year pursuit of my MAI (I won't bore you with the details -- this is a work thing, but kind of a big deal for me).
The past ten years have been great, so it is bittersweet to say goodbye to my 20s. I'm looking forward to all the good times that lie ahead in my 30s!
Some of you know that I love even numbers. My intellectual strengths are in language arts, not math. Yes, its true that I never mastered my multiplication tables and managed to make it through Carolina with only one math class (thank you, Journalism school!). Kind of scary that my job involves lots of numbers, huh? I consider it a huge blessing that I was born in 1980. With a quick and easy subtraction that even I can do in my head, I always can figure out how old I am!
The other thing I like about my birth year is that my "big" birthdays coincide with new decades.
Several older and wiser friends and relatives have told me that my 30s will be the best years of my life. As exciting as this thought seems, I can't help but question the validity of that statement. I spent some time this week reflecting over the past decade, aka my 20s, and they were pretty darn good.
Don't get me wrong, there were some hard times also...but isn't it funny how the good times really stand out? I thought I'd share some of my highlights over the past decade...
2000/age 20:
I was a junior at USC. Good times!
2001/age 21:
This is the year I met the love of my life. It's hard to believe that Graem & I started dating nine years ago! That means we've been together for almost a third of my life. Wow! This picture was taken on one of our first dates. In my mind's eye we still look like this.
The summer of 2001 I did a study abroad program. The course was "Reporting in the British Isles" and we traveled all over England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This course was through Michigan State (random!) and I didn't know a single other student until I landed at Heathrow Airport in London and met everyone! I made some great friends over that summer and at the end of the course, Jen and I traveled on to Paris and Italy.
Trafalgar Square, London:
2002/age 22:
Graduated from USC.
Graem took me on a trip to Boston to celebrate graduation.
That December my mother and I took a trip to Spain.
2003/age 23:
Looking back, I don't know how I managed to pull this off, considering the salary I made, but somehow I bought my first house -- all by myself! Well, I did have a roommate, but that was because my friend needed a place to live, and it helped me be able to afford to
2004/age 24:
Graem and I got engaged and I spent the next year
2005/age 25:
Alice and Aunt Ruth (and Aunt Beth, behind the scenes) took me on a fabulous trip to NYC...
Wedding bells!
...and we bought the house we live in now.
Another trip to NYC that fall for me and Graem.
2006/age 26:
Graem and I took one of my favorite trips ever. For our first anniversary, we flew out to California and spent a few days in Napa Valley, a few days in Sonoma Valley and a few days in San Francisco. I planned most of the trip, but Graem was in charge of the transportation, including car rental -- and he surprised me with a Mustang convertible! It was so much fun! The only problem was that the car didn't have very much cargo space. We bought so many cases of wine that it all wouldn't fit in the car and we ended up having to ship some of it home! Mental note for next time: rent a U-Haul!
2007/age 27:
Ski trip to Jackson Hole...except that we didn't do very much skiing. We found out right before our trip that I was expecting and under doctor's orders, no skiing allowed. We ended up going on several snowmobiling excursions, which were amazing, and we skiied one day, very carefully, with Graem skiing behind me to make sure no one plowed into me!
That fall, my sweet little Mason was born.
2008/age 28:
Trip to Montana (chronicled here).
2009/age 29:
Sweet baby boy #2, Roper, was born.
And I finished up a 5-year pursuit of my MAI (I won't bore you with the details -- this is a work thing, but kind of a big deal for me).
The past ten years have been great, so it is bittersweet to say goodbye to my 20s. I'm looking forward to all the good times that lie ahead in my 30s!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Celebration in Chucktown
Another mini-vacation/weekend trip for me and Graem, and another trip to the farm for Mason and Roper. Everyone's a winner!
We went down to Charleston to celebrate my birthday (which is actually today). My husband is very thoughtful and invited some friends of ours to come along...
The McCartys...
...and the Tunmores...
...and us. :)
We headed down early on Saturday so that Tara and I could hit the outlets. Graem and Arch had very little interest in outlet shopping, so they entertained themselves by visiting Dick's Sporting Goods and a very large pawn shop!
After scoring some good deals, we headed downtown to browse the shops on King Street and the market. I was on a mission to find an Easter basket for Roper. I wanted one of similar size and design as Mason's. As expected, there was quite a selection!
Mission accomplished.
I'd say they are pretty similar!
We got together for a glass of champagne at the hotel courtyard (again, thanks to my hubs for planning ahead)...
...followed by a delectable dinner at Hanks. Graem and I started P90X last week, and Tara, Arch and Auralee are on the South Beach diet. I don't know about everyone else, but the food was so delicious that I didn't even miss having dessert!
The next morning, we headed over to our favorite breakfast spot. Graem had the foresight to make reservations, thank goodness -- look at the crowd!
We debated on whether to walk or drive, the sky was cloudy and rain was in the forecast. We decided to walk. I'm so glad we did! On our way back, I wanted to come down Queen Street so that we could look at all the flower boxes and peek into the quaint courtyards and cemeteries.
For some reason, I'm a stranger magnet. I feel like everywhere I go people always stop me and talk to me. I like to think it means that I'm approachable. :) Anyway, a sweet elderly lady stopped us on Queen Street and invited us to join her for worship at her church. She said she has been a member at her church since the early 80s when there were only 30 members. Now, they routinely have a packed service and often run out of bulletins. How could we resist her invitation?
The service was beautiful and the message was wonderful. One interesting thing is that some of Graem's ancestors were French Huguenots. They emigrated from France to the SC Coast in the early 1800s before later moving farther inland to Aiken County. I couldn't help but wonder if some of his ancestors had once worshiped in this church.
Our new friend was a wealth of information regarding our beloved Charleston. She gave us the full history on her church and on the Dock Street Theater, across the street from the church. According to her, the first theater in America was performed at this intersection. The Dock Street Theater just underwent $29 million in renovations.
She invited us for lunch after the service. I can't put into words how disappointed I was that we had to decline. By this time it was 11:30 and our hotel check out was at noon, so we really had to get back to pack up and check out.
We promised her that we'd come back to her church on our next trip to Charleston. Next time we will dress in our Sunday morning duds instead of jeans + t-shirts! Charleston is so beautiful...each time we leave I look forward to our next trip.
We went down to Charleston to celebrate my birthday (which is actually today). My husband is very thoughtful and invited some friends of ours to come along...
The McCartys...
...and the Tunmores...
...and us. :)
We headed down early on Saturday so that Tara and I could hit the outlets. Graem and Arch had very little interest in outlet shopping, so they entertained themselves by visiting Dick's Sporting Goods and a very large pawn shop!
After scoring some good deals, we headed downtown to browse the shops on King Street and the market. I was on a mission to find an Easter basket for Roper. I wanted one of similar size and design as Mason's. As expected, there was quite a selection!
Mission accomplished.
I'd say they are pretty similar!
We got together for a glass of champagne at the hotel courtyard (again, thanks to my hubs for planning ahead)...
...followed by a delectable dinner at Hanks. Graem and I started P90X last week, and Tara, Arch and Auralee are on the South Beach diet. I don't know about everyone else, but the food was so delicious that I didn't even miss having dessert!
The next morning, we headed over to our favorite breakfast spot. Graem had the foresight to make reservations, thank goodness -- look at the crowd!
We debated on whether to walk or drive, the sky was cloudy and rain was in the forecast. We decided to walk. I'm so glad we did! On our way back, I wanted to come down Queen Street so that we could look at all the flower boxes and peek into the quaint courtyards and cemeteries.
For some reason, I'm a stranger magnet. I feel like everywhere I go people always stop me and talk to me. I like to think it means that I'm approachable. :) Anyway, a sweet elderly lady stopped us on Queen Street and invited us to join her for worship at her church. She said she has been a member at her church since the early 80s when there were only 30 members. Now, they routinely have a packed service and often run out of bulletins. How could we resist her invitation?
The service was beautiful and the message was wonderful. One interesting thing is that some of Graem's ancestors were French Huguenots. They emigrated from France to the SC Coast in the early 1800s before later moving farther inland to Aiken County. I couldn't help but wonder if some of his ancestors had once worshiped in this church.
Our new friend was a wealth of information regarding our beloved Charleston. She gave us the full history on her church and on the Dock Street Theater, across the street from the church. According to her, the first theater in America was performed at this intersection. The Dock Street Theater just underwent $29 million in renovations.
She invited us for lunch after the service. I can't put into words how disappointed I was that we had to decline. By this time it was 11:30 and our hotel check out was at noon, so we really had to get back to pack up and check out.
We promised her that we'd come back to her church on our next trip to Charleston. Next time we will dress in our Sunday morning duds instead of jeans + t-shirts! Charleston is so beautiful...each time we leave I look forward to our next trip.
My Apologies
I just realized that I haven't posted any pictures of Mason and Roper since our trip to the mountains last month. I have some new blog material that I'll be posting over the next day or two, but the boys won't be featured in any of my new posts either. So, to satisfy those of you (ahem, grandparents) that like to see new pictures of the boys, I'll direct you to Tara's post about our trip to the park last week, which you can find here.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Take Me Home, Country Roads...
This past weekend Graem and I went skiing in West Virginia with our small group from church. It was great to spend time with old friends and get to know some new friends better.
Group shot in the lodge:
Group shot on the slopes (minus Ted, Sarah & Burton -- they came up & left a day early):
I managed to get a picture of each couple on the lifts (again -- minus the Brewers).
Jason & Leslie
Raluca & Justin
Jessica & Matt
Graem & me
We even had some trick skiers with us. Maybe a circus career is in their future? :)
Some of us had to leave babies at home with doting grandparents...but Burton (age 5) is a seasoned skier and taught the rest of us a thing or two about cutting up the slopes!
Isn't it great how these things show up all over the place?? Go Gamecocks!
Group shot in the lodge:
Group shot on the slopes (minus Ted, Sarah & Burton -- they came up & left a day early):
I managed to get a picture of each couple on the lifts (again -- minus the Brewers).
Jason & Leslie
Raluca & Justin
Jessica & Matt
Graem & me
We even had some trick skiers with us. Maybe a circus career is in their future? :)
Some of us had to leave babies at home with doting grandparents...but Burton (age 5) is a seasoned skier and taught the rest of us a thing or two about cutting up the slopes!
Isn't it great how these things show up all over the place?? Go Gamecocks!
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